Alabama · legislation

HB 351 (2026)

Alabama Personal Data Protection Act

Enacted

Jurisdiction: Alabama
Record type: legislation
Session: 2026 Regular Session
Statute citation: Ala. Code Title 8, Chapter 44
Introduced: January 29, 2026
Signed: April 17, 2026
Effective: May 1, 2027
Last legislative action: April 17, 2026
Last reviewed: August 31, 2026
Record version: 1.0
Verification: verified primary
Permanent URL: https://whoownsyourdna.org/records/al-hb-351-2026/

Topics: Genetic privacy · Consent · Data sharing · Data sale · Data deletion

Summary

Alabama HB 351 enacted the Alabama Personal Data Protection Act. The act classifies genetic or biometric data processed to uniquely identify a person as sensitive data and establishes broader consumer rights and controller obligations for covered businesses.

What the law or policy does

Covered controllers must obtain consent before processing sensitive data and must comply with duties concerning transparency, data minimization, security, consumer requests, targeted advertising, personal-data sales, and certain profiling. The Attorney General has exclusive enforcement authority.

What this means

Beginning May 1, 2027, qualifying businesses will have to follow statewide rules for personal data. Genetic identifying data receives the act's sensitive-data protections, including a general consent requirement for its processing.

Primary sources

HB 351 enrolled act. Alabama Legislature. Accessed August 31, 2026.
Alabama Code § 8-44-1. Alabama Legislature. Accessed August 31, 2026.

Record details

Record history

January 29, 2026: Bill introduced and referred to the House Commerce and Small Business Committee. Source: Alabama Legislature.
February 24, 2026: House passed the bill as amended. Source: Alabama Legislature.
April 7, 2026: Senate passed the bill as amended and the House concurred. Source: Alabama Legislature.
April 17, 2026: Enacted as Act 2026-552. Source: Alabama Legislature.
August 31, 2026: Record created from the enrolled act, current code, and legislative history. Source: Project review.

Technical metadata

Record ID: al-hb-351-2026

Topics: genetic-privacy, consent, data-sharing, data-sale, data-deletion

Canonical source file: data/states/alabama/al-hb-351-2026.yaml

Cite this record

Who Owns Your DNA? HB 351 (2026): Alabama Personal Data Protection Act. U.S. Genetics & Genomics Law and Policy Tracker. Record version 1.0. Accessed [date].

Read the complete citation guidance